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NCSoft? Nope, NCStonewall
The_Grump
Member Posts: 331
After no answers from two GMs and no response at all from one of them, I still have a ticket that has been out since 09 June 2010 and completely unresolved. I haven't even received a response saying that they cannot duplicate my problem, nothing. On 28 June I posted a ticket to ask after the delay and speak with a senior GM about it, after all it is a different issue so a different ticket is understandable, and it was simply merged by another GM without so much as saying whether or not senior GMs even handle questions like that.
Now, at just over 3 business weeks (16 buiness days and 22 calendar days) I think that I am well within my rights to call bullshit on the 'support' part of NCSoft support. I thought about contacting phone support despite their ridiculous hours of 12p-5p CST, but they only handle billing issues and technical support issues and nothing at all beyond that. Knowing that putting in another ticket isn't likely to help -but doing so anyway because it legitimately is a completely different issue, the delay v. the issue that I put in the ticket about initially- I searched NCSoft's website to see if there was a 'Contact Us' link anywhere. There was no such link, at least not immediately viewable or within 2 to 3 sensible links. I had to google 'contact ncsoft' to come up with this page and after taking the time to type up my concerns the query could not be processed. Why? There are two necessary boxes that must be filled in when clicking the Requests & Feedback link, 'Region' and 'Game(s)', however they are greyed out irrespective of the 'Subject' option that is chosen.
This means I now have no reliable way to contact a logically involved party at NCSoft by phone, on-site request or 'Ask a Question' web support. At this point I think I have figured out the initial issue I had on my own and I'm glad for that, however being stonewalled like this simply does sit not well with me and, obviously, I'm not going to tear my hair out about this but I am very curious what folks think of this issue. When it comes down to it it seems that all we can do as players is let each other know what other companies are doing so there is a fair warning, sort of like some of the APB and MO threads that have sprung up in the past two weeks. Share your thoughts.
Oh, but one final point first and more of an aside. Does anyone think that, despite with a general consensus of NCSoft giving horrible support, they will actually give ArenaNet and Guild Wars 2 the support it deserves (unlike AION)?
(1)TL:DR must be your way of saying that thinking hurts. Then again, this may explain why it looks like you responded to the post without using your brain.
(2) It's not about community, is it? You just have nothing better to do.
Comments
Yeah, NCsoft is awful with support of their own games. But AreaNet is the developer of the guild wars series, and supports it as such. I know that NCsoft is publishing the game, and marketing the game which they excell at doing, they are probably one of the best companies at creating hype for a game commercially, but so far AreaNet is the one who is doing all of the talking when it comes to GW2. I haven't really heard of many complaints when it comes to how GW1 is handled, so that gives me faith in GW2 being handled well in the customer support department as well.
You sound pretty upset and I've seen this from many other MMOs too, but...
Sometimes... sh*t just happens and you're the person it falls on ><!
Not even sure what your issue is though...
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Games Tried: TCOS, 12sky, 12Sky2, Rappelz, LoA, GO, HO, GMU, Warrock, TR, PWI, SotNW:GE, PotC, EVE, MxO, PotBS, KO, HO, 9Dragons, LotRO, DDO, L2, Maplestory, Second Life, CoX, GW, EQ2, Ryzom, WoW, Planetside, SWG, FE, Aion, Allods, CO, etc
Something about NCsoft ><.
And according to his/her own quote, "Grumble... Grumble ..... Grumble..."
!
I am rather upset by this because it isn't the only time I or anyone else has encountered this. If businesses ran well then we could legitimately say that sometimes shit does happen and we wer unfortunately at the wrong place at the wrong time. This, though, simply isn't the case and seeing how widespread really bad support is is just astonishing. What's more, people seem to believe that this is the way it is either supposed to be or nothing can be done about it. For my part, I'm putting this out there so people who are interested in NCSoft products can see what one of these 'support instances' was like and put this in perspective with other things that they've heard.
With games like Guild Wars I get that there will be less support because of the pricing model, they simply aren't receiving as much as revenue as subscription model games. But when we look at support NCSoft has offered for AION in the West we see that this is not something that is happening because of one game's pricing model but what the company is choosing to do as part of their overall business model. So, like I've said above and in a few other posts, this seems to be all we can do: vote with our wallets.
Would I buy Guild Wars 2? Definitely, I really enjoy what ArenaNet does despite their NCSoft handicap. However the main reason I am content to buy the game isn't just that but that I won't be paying a subscription because I simply would not pay each month for support that was simply not there. Simply put, people that pay subscriptions games shouldn't and people that play games with alternative pricing models should expect a bit less support but certainly not in the realm of over 20 days without a response.
(1)TL:DR must be your way of saying that thinking hurts. Then again, this may explain why it looks like you responded to the post without using your brain.
(2) It's not about community, is it? You just have nothing better to do.
His quote and, yes, "Grumble...Grumble...Grumble," indeed.
Would you believe that they actually sent me a customer satisfaction survey, too?
(1)TL:DR must be your way of saying that thinking hurts. Then again, this may explain why it looks like you responded to the post without using your brain.
(2) It's not about community, is it? You just have nothing better to do.
I'm sure guild wars 2 will be fine as another person has said. I had to contact them about a password issue and being unable to use the email address I had for my acount. Sent them the support message say 10pm at night and the next afternoon I had an email back asking for more info. I replied back with what was requested and 15 minutes later they had sent me another email with my acount fixed and ready to use again. Best service ever if you ask me.
I had problems with Aion. Contacted support by phone, was taken care of in less than 10 minutes. Nope it is not 24 hours, but their live support is some of the best I have ever received.
I have also submitted tickets with them, have had good response times all around -- with multiple games even.
Perhaps it was the OP's issue(s) or the way it was explained? I dunno. But if you need support, do not place artificial barriers on your way to keep your issue from getting taken care of. Also, when submitting an issue through their support site, pick the right options >>. The options are there to make sure your issue gets sent to the right people and is taken care of in a timely fashion.
Anyway, there is a flipside view for anybody ready to hop on the hate NCSoft support bandwagon...
I thought the civil war ended a very long time ago?
Unfortunately, the correct options were chosen each time. The problem, it seems to me, is a complex of NCSoft seemingly running support with minimal resources along with GMs seeming to have a lack of care. I recall one of the regular cloumnists here, Jamie I think, writing about something of the sort in respect to GMs.
With all that said, it is good to see that at least some people have good experiences with NCSoft support. It demonstrates that they aren't completely uncaring about their customers, just mostly. What people have been reporting in respect to good support, though, is account and technical support related stuff and only that. This is something we need to keep in mind and remember that, like Blizzard who has some really great phone support when you get through, support needs to come from other avenues as well and cover more ground than simply account and technical support.
(Note: edited text with bold for emphasis.)
(1)TL:DR must be your way of saying that thinking hurts. Then again, this may explain why it looks like you responded to the post without using your brain.
(2) It's not about community, is it? You just have nothing better to do.
I'd have to agree. I have had nothing but good experiences dealing with support for Guild Wars.
Could you post or tell us what the problem was?
I mean like another poster said if it was not clear how could they answer you?
Posting your problem here maybe could get some help from people that play/played the game and had or know how to solve your problem.
Ultimately, the issue that caused me to create the ticket is no longer material. What I will say is that it is something that I reported over a year ago and still is occurring. When I initially reported it I received a response within a few days telling me that they could not replicate the incident and that was that.I think I have figured out the issue on my own but what the issue is is not the point, the point is the extreme delay.
(1)TL:DR must be your way of saying that thinking hurts. Then again, this may explain why it looks like you responded to the post without using your brain.
(2) It's not about community, is it? You just have nothing better to do.
It's hard to take this thread seriously if you arnen't going to even mention what your issue was. I have no choice but to guess that the issue you were having is explained elsewhere in their documentation or you were not clear on what the problem was.
I work in the customer service industry and it's amazing to me how many people need me to explain things that are clearly listed in the documentaton they are given. If I have to choose between helping a customer that really needs help or a customer that is just too lazy to read, I'm going to help the former. Even McDonalds won't sit there and feed you.
EDIT:
Doesnt matter....
After waiting almost a full month (09 June to 09 July), finally, about one hour ago, someone at NCSoft actually replied to the ticket I put in. I'll end my responses in this thread with the response I received from 'support'.
The GM's name has been removed and this is being put here so folks that are interested in subscription-based MMORPGs by NCSoft can see an example of what support is like when it is neither technical nor account related, viz. system issues, billing information and forgotten passwords.
Response (GM Xxxx)
07/08/2010 05:15 PM
Hello,
Your issue has been noted and escalated to our Quality Assurance Team. The Support Team is only capable of basic functionality testing. The Quality Assurance Team is capable of more in-depth testing. If we have any additional information for you, we’ll be sure to update this ticket. If you recall any other details that might help us reproduce this issue, feel free to contact us again with that information.
Sorry for the delay!
Regards,
GM Xxxx
The Guild Wars Support Team
(1)TL:DR must be your way of saying that thinking hurts. Then again, this may explain why it looks like you responded to the post without using your brain.
(2) It's not about community, is it? You just have nothing better to do.